Toyota to test all SUVs after Lexus sales halt

Tokyo, April 15, 2010

Toyota Motor said on Thursday it would conduct further safety tests on all its sport utility vehicles after it suspended sales of the Lexus GX 460 model following a report of a risk of rollover accidents.

Toyota had taken the unusual step of stopping sales of the SUV model in the United States earlier this week after Consumer Reports magazine warned against buying it, calling it a "safety risk" because of a potential handling problem in certain turns.

The world's biggest automaker has now also decided to suspend sales in the Middle East and Russia, the only other markets where the car is sold. The model has sold 5,400 units in the US and Canada in the four months since it has been on the market, and a total of 580 units in the Middle East and Russia.

Toyota is now conducting a string of tests on the stability control systems of all its SUVs in a bid to allay any concerns that drivers may have over their own derivate models, a Toyota spokeswoman said.

"The foremost reason for doing the extra tests is to put customers' minds at ease," spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said. She added that Toyota had received no reports of the problems described by Consumer Reports from GX 460 drivers.

Takeuchi also denied a Kyodo News report that Toyota would voluntarily recall the Lexus GX 460. Separately, the Nikkei business daily said in its online edition that Toyota would modify the electronic stability control systems and other aspects of the vehicle after the influential, non-profit magazine's findings.

"There is no way of recalling a car -- voluntarily or otherwise -- unless we find something wrong with the car, and we haven't done that yet," Takeuchi said. "It's premature to talk about any recall steps at this point."

Toyota has said its engineers were "vigorously testing" the SUV to identify the risk cited by Consumer Reports, and has offered to provide a loaner vehicle for any concerned driver of the 2010 GX 460 model until a remedy was available.